CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Social Life of Nassau. Society Pervaded by Natural Chrystalizing 
Laws. English Forms and Titles well Rooted. Citizens of the Great Repub- 
lic Ambitious to Miz and Mingle in High-toned Society. Social Gayeties— 
Picnics and Balls, Wine and Waltzing, the ‘‘ Sound of Revelry at Night.” 
Highways Made and Repaired to Accommodate the Victims of a too Generous 
Hospitality. A Governor wro Appreciates the Dance, and does not Under- 
estimate the Value of His Titles. A Doctor of Divinity Made Happy. In 
What Places Hospitality is Indigenous. 
‘s Fill che bright goblet; spread the festive board; 
Summon the gay, the noble and the fair ; 
Let mirth and music sound the dirge of care, 
But ask thou not if happiness be there— 
Lift not the festal mask!”—W. Soorr. 
THE social life of a people cannot but be a matter of absorb- 
ing interest to the stranger, even if he does not acquiesce in the 
sentiment of the poet, who affirms that 
“The proper study of mankind is man.” 
In its main roots and cardinal elements human nature is the 
same everywhere; but traditions, education, customs, climate and 
other influences and surrounding circumstances, wonderfully 
varied and widely dissimilar, produce new and unlooked-for re- 
sults which arrest the attention, awaken inquiry, furnish food 
for reflection and materials for a criticism which is only in appear- 
ance sometimes unfriendly. In Nassau, we were in such a hap- 
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